At Harry's House Who: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger When: 4th of February, in the afternoon Where: Harry's new house, Godric's Hollow Rating: G Status: Completed Log
Harry couldn't live in Grimmauld. He'd tried, he really had, but every turn every corner, reminded him of a moment he'd spent with Sirius or the weeks they'd hidden there on the run. It's wasn't HORRIBLE, but it certainly wasn't how he wanted to live his life. He didn't want to be stuck in the past - even though he still couldn't believe Voldemort was dead and he'd won and that things were... all right now.
It had taken him a couple of weeks before he'd decided to move to Godric's Hollow. At least here he didn't have many memories of the events that had happened, and he'd once had a family. If he belonged anywhere other than Hogwarts, it was here. But there were no homes for sale. He'd purchased a small plot of land and started building - after all the permits and paperwork was cleared with the Ministry.
The house was almost complete, now, save for furnishing and decorating. He'd lain out a blanket in what was going to be the dining room and picked up a picnic lunch from a café in London. It wasn't much but it would do for a study date. He snorted. Date. Yeah, right. It wasn't a date... but he was sure there would be studying.
Hermione had been glad when Harry had decided to move to Godric's Hollow. Even though they have been there a very short time, and there were bad memories associated with it...it was also one of the places she had felt the closest to Harry. She'd helped him pick out the small plot of land, and had also helped with the charms that helped hide it from others. Harry of all people deserved a little bit of peace.
It even took her a few times to find the spot, until she saw the Christmas rose bush she'd planted to mark the spot. Once she found that, she was able to cast the spell that would let her into the protective bubble for his house. She gasped when she'd gotten inside. He really had gotten very very far. She went to knock on the door, and even though she knew it was Harry on the other side, she slipped her wand into her hand regardless. "Hullo? Harry?"
Harry's hand went to his wand and made his way to the door. "Mione?" he asked, as he peeked through the peep hole. It looked like Hermione, but one could never be sure. He opened the door and smiled at her nonetheless. "Hey there," he said softly and motioned her inside the house, reaching for her coat.
She shrugged out of her coat, wand still in hand. "Hullo," she said softly. Her eyes lit up when she finally got to see the inside of his new home. "Why Harry, you're almost finished!" she cried out, stepping in completely. It was 'homey'. Homey and bright and even with very little furniture, it looked inviting. "It's brilliant," she said, taking it all in then turning back to him with a broad smile. "So, do I get the tour?" she asked?
Harry smiled. "Sure," he said and he began leading her from room to room; the house was small but cosy, and consisted of a two bedrooms (a master and a guest), a guest bathroom, a den, kitchen, an office, and a dining room. It was one floor living... but it was much better than anything Harry had ever had - other than Grimmauld, which never felt like home. He ended the tour where it began the small foyer and shrugged. "It's not much... but... it's home."
Hermione was interested in every room. "How does it feel to have a home of your own, finally?" she asked after he'd finished the tour. It was a very 'Harry' house. "I think it's lovely," she added, taking his hand and squeezing it. It was something she did often. Probably more often than she should have.
"It feels..." Harry let the statement trail off. Lonely? That wasn't how it was supposed to feel. "Good," he finished finally, giving her a smile. "As you saw, the kitchen's not quite in working order... so... I got a picnic lunch from that little café in London... the one two blocks from the Ministry." He couldn't remember the name, but he knew Hermione would know the one he was talking about. They sometimes stopped to pick up food there when the three of them... and Ginny... were leaving the Ministry after lessons.
Hermione knew the café well. "Oh, brilliant, you know I love that place." He noted his hesitation. What was wrong? Maybe she'd bring it up later. Instead, she gave him another smile. "Come on...I'm starved, I skipped breakfast on purpose, so I could make a pig of myself," she teased. She hadn't really, but she knew Harry would laugh and drag her over. "And what's this nonsense about needed help studying for DEFENCE? YOU?"
"Well... I... uh... I'm sitting for my NEWT in Defence tomorrow," Harry replied after a long moment. He turned abruptly and headed for the dining room. He grabbed the picnic basket off the kitchen counter on his way and then knelt on the blanket he'd set out, beginning to unpack the basket.
He hadn't wanted to tell Hermione he was starting on his NEWTs, yet, but... he just had to get one out of the way, and he was most prepared for his Defence one. Potions, on the other hand, was killing him.
Hermione's eyes widened. She..wasn't expecting that. Harry was sitting for his...but...Ron was practically not taking his. Every time she brought it up, he baulked and complained. He complained when she brought it up, he complained that she wanted to go back to Hogwarts to actually have a seventh year and sit for NEWTs properly. Now...Harry was taking his NEWTs. She'd...be going back to school all alone.
She pushed her hands into her pockets. "Well," she said. "I don't know why you need my help," she said quietly. "I'm dead awful at defence, everyone knows that." Of course, he hadn't wanted to have lunch with her...just pick her brains. She sighed very quietly.
Harry snorted as he laid out the plates and silverware. "Oh, right, I forgot. It was RON who kept all the disillusionment and protection charms up on our camp for weeks at a time," he replied sarcastically. He was silent as he continued setting the places and then began to get out the little wrapped plates of cucumber sandwiches and the containers of pasta salad. "Look, 'Mione, if you don't want to help me study, that's fine. It was really just an excuse to get you here," he admitted.
"...I wanted to come over without an excuse, " she said quietly. Her eyes brightened a bit when she saw him laying out a blanket. "Are we having a picnic?" she asked as she took a seat. It had to be a magical blanket; it was soft and comfortable...or Harry had put a cushioning charm on it. "It just...surprised me. I didn't think I'd be going back to Hogwarts all alone." She almost started to say that she and Ron had a row about it...but Harry didn't need to hear that or to be dragged into the middle of her relationship.
"You could have just asked," she said.
"Well, I have no furniture, so the picnic was the best I could do," he said with a shrug. "I don't mind if we eat in the den, but... I thought it'd be nice if we had the first official meal in the dining room," he said. He sighed softly shaking his head. It infuriated him to no end, that she insisted on going back to Hogwarts. At this rate GINNY would be done with her NEWTs before Hermione.
"You won't be," Harry said after a moment. "Half of our classmates are returning as professors next year. Don't worry, I'm sure they won't show you any favouritism."
Hermione's face blanched. "Oh no," she said. She had visions of a whole slew of Snapes telling her she was a show-off. Hermione wasn't stupid...most of their classmates hated her. "It's...very nice, Harry," she said, but she didn't sound as happy as she had at first. What as wrong with her? Lately...the littlest things set her off into panic attacks and crying jags. She'd duelled Bellatrix Lestrange and faced a hundred Dementors, for pity's sake! Why was she so abjectly miserable in what should be the happiest time of her life? Voldemort was dead, Harry was safe, she and Ron were....something.
"I'm sorry," she said, trying to shake off her mood and not ruin the lunch that Harry had gone out of his way to get. "I've just been so...off, lately."
"Ever since you started seeing Ron," Harry commented casually. He wasn't blind. He saw that something was off with Hermione. Whether it was that she didn't like Ron, or she really, really did even though he drove her mental, or she didn't want to be friends with Harry any more and she just didn't want to tell him, he had no idea.
He'd forgotten drinks, so he stood up and moved to the kitchen grabbing two cups which just happened to be there, and casting an aguamenti to fill them. He made his way back to the dining room and handed a glass to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about drinks. Hope water is all right."
She was quiet when Harry said what he did, then went to go get drinks. That was when it started. Not that she'd really even been asked or anything. Ron had kissed her during the battle. Then she'd gone to St. Mungo's, he insisted on going to get her parents with her and announced that he was her boyfriend. She really hadn't been given much choice in the matter.
"Water is fine," she said, and she took the offered cup from him. "Thank you." She sipped at her water, trying not to just blurt it all out. It hadn't been RON she'd wanted to kiss that day, it wasn't Ron who made her happy, but, "I'm so trapped," she whispered, not realizing she'd made her thoughts audible. "I'm trapped and I don't know how to get out."
"Trapped by what?" Harry asked as he motioned for her to get a cucumber sandwich and settled down on the blanket. He didn't like seeing Hermione like this, but... he felt like there was nothing he could do to help her. He really wasn't sure what the rules were now that she was dating Ron. He was sort of afraid Ron would think he was trying to steal his girlfriend.
Which he certainly wasn't.
Hermione blinked. She'd spoken aloud? She sighed softly as she took a sandwich. "Trapped by...what everyone expects of you," she said. She'd tried so hard not to talk about it, with anyone. She didn't want to pull anyone into the middle of this. Not Harry, not Ginny and honestly...there weren't very many people she could talk to. Not even her Mum. Who still wasn't speaking to her.
"I'll--manage it, Harry.," she said quietly. "I have to learn how to."
"I... don't think you have to learn to manage anything," he said after a long moment. He really had no idea what she was talking about, but he didn't like seeing her upset. "I think... you should just do what you want to do and say screw the rest, yeah? I mean, for Merlin's sake, 'Mione, you've been spending your entire life doing what other people have expected of you, and where has it gotten you? No where, but almost killed... several times." He took a bite of the sandwich and chewed it. "And stuck with me and Ron as best friends," he added with a grin.
"I don't think I could be stuck with anyone else as best friends," she said. "That's not exactly 'stuck', you know." She was quiet as she started to nibble at her sandwich. "And it got my plenty. I could have walked away if I wanted to Harry. I didn't. I believed in what we did, I always did.."
She knew what was making her miserable, but...she didn't know how to fix it without everyone hating her. "Harry...if...you found yourself in a situation that yo didn't ask for...but you knew it was no good for you...but it was something that made everyone you loved so happy--would you stay there?" She didn't know hwo else to ask without flat out saying 'I'm unhappy with Ron, but everyone will hate me if I leave him'.
"No," Harry said firmly. "I was ridiculously unhappy for the first part of my life, and I don't think I could do that again." At least, he didn't think he could. There was only so much you could do living for other people; you were here to live for yourself.
That was unexpected. Well, not really but his adamance was. "Even if--it meant losing those closest to you?" If she left Ron...she'd lose Ginny for hurting her brother. Any chance of reconciling with her mother would be gone. And she could never really confess because...he'd hate her as well.
"...I wish it were that easy," she said, setting her sandwich down. Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry Harry. I can't pull you into this. It's not fair or right and...well...there' been enough gloom and such."
Harry frowned. From the way she was talking she knew exactly what it was that was bothering her, and it didn't sound as if she had any plans to do anything about it. That bothered him... but what could he do? "If you say so," he replied after a moment. He handed her a container of pasta salad and a fork. "Here... you love this stuff."
Hermione nodded, as he pushed it over. "It's nice, that you remembered," she said. "You've been good with that." She speared a few pieces of pasta and put them in her mouth. "This is...really really good," she said, eating a bit more.
"When do you think you'll be done with this place?" she asked as she nibbled on her food. She really couldn't eat much...her stomach was tied in knots still and she was still very unhappy.
Harry shrugged a bit. "Next week sometime?" he said. "Maybe the next couple of weeks, I don't know." He watched her play with her food and sighed softly to himself. She wasn't enjoying herself... he'd probably picked the wrong place to pick up food from, but she was too polite to say.
Hermione took another bite of her sandwich. They were her favourites, and Harry remembered....he always seemed to remember those little things. Impulsively, she reached over and hugged him. "If I tell you something....will you promise not to tell anyone for a little bit?" she whispered into his ear. "Please, promise me, Harry."
Harry froze, blinking wildly. He pulled away from the hug and stared at her, wide-eyed and blinking. "Oh, Merlin, Hermione, you're not PREGGARS are you?!?!"
Hermione's face fell, and she burst into tears. "NO! I haven't even...I'm still a---" It was all too much, and now even Harry thought she either pregnant or insane. Probably both. All the built up tension came out of her in loud, noisy sobs as she turned away from him, her face in her hands as she cried.
Harry flushed and mumbled an apology. He was never any good with what to do with crying girls - that'd been the problem with Cho. He rubbed the back of his head and chewed on his bottom lip. "I... uh... restroom," he mumbled and he fled the room.
Great. Now Hermione would be upset with HIM, because he thought she might be pregnant. Lovely.
She heard Harry mumble something, then leave the room. Perfect. She'd driven him off. Perfect. Just like the did with everyone else. She managed to calm down, wipe her face. She should leave. She'd made Harry run away in the man's own house.
She stood up slowly. "Harry," she called out, "I'm ...going to go, OK?" She didn't want to ...but it was probably for the best. Maybe she should just go away, alone for a few days, and decide what she wanted to do.
Harry stepped out of the bathroom. "No... don't... I just..." he shrugged. He didn't know what to do or how to make her happy or... he thought having her over would cheer her up... he was obviously wrong.
Hermione sighed. "I think you would be happier if I left," she said quietly. "I want to--I feel better when I'm around you," she said. "I just don't think that anyone else is better when I'M around." She looked at him, and tried to smile. "It's not your fault, Harry. It's not. It's me." She had started to reach for his hand, like she always did when she was trying to reassure him....but then pulled it back. "I didn't mean to ruin your picnic. It's just...you're the only person who even remembers I LIKE that place. You're the only one who--seems to remember that there's this whole other part of me, that everyone else seems to want me to throw away."
Harry frowned. "What about Ginny?" he asked. "She remembers that kind of stuff, and... you didn't ruin it... I just, felt horrible about you know... asking what I asked... and I made you cry... and..." he trailed off, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other.
"You didn't make me cry Harry--everything else made me cry," she said. "All right, yes, Ginny does remember those things but..." she didn't know how to explain that it meant more that HE remembered. "She's preoccupied, lately." She looked at him ans asked, "Can...we start over,?" she asked. "I feel foolish for bursting into tears like that, when you didn't do anything wrong and ruining your lunch."
"We can start over," Harry said after a long moment. He tugged on her sleeve and lead her back into the dinning room, taking his position back on the blanket. He was quiet as he started eating again, managing to finally finish one cucumber sandwich. "How's Crook?"
"Crook is good," she said. She sat back down, and finished the sandwich she had started, as well as eating more of the salad that Harry had picked up for her. "He was mad that I didn't bring him. He swished his tail and wouldn't say goodbye." Crookshanks, her half-kneazle cat had spent the War with the Weasleys, and Molly informed her that he was quite unhappy and took his ire out on the garden gnomes. "You know how much he likes you."
Almost as much as I do. Her face flushed red as soon as she thought it. "So...they're letting Malfoy go free in a few days," she said, changing the subject. "It feels...odd. Knowing how much he actually helped while we were finding the Horcruxes. He did seem off when we were at Malfoy Manor. I didn't realize it until after we were at Shell House...he wouldn't tell them it was us. I didn't expect that of him."
Harry sort of shrugged. "Didn't expect Snape to be in love with my Mum and secretly trying to bring down Voldemort even though he killed Dumbledore, either," he replied. He took a drink of water. "And I bet my Dad didn't expect Wormtail to rat him out." He snorted at his own pun before stabbing a bit of his own pasta salad a bit violently.
"War does weird things to people," he concluded after a long pause.
"Yes," Hermione agreed, wincing at the sound and sight of Harry stabbing at this pasta salad, "I suppose...it does. For the worse if you talk to some people." It was funny, how what harry had said mirrored what her own parents had said
"What kind of problems or what did you want to go over for your NEWT?" she asked. She didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier. Better to stay on mostly neutral topics. "You do rather well with stealth charms...you did a few while we were hunting," she offered.
"Well, I need help with Salvio Hexia, for one," Harry replied, finishing up another half a sandwich. "And that variation of the Protego that you used... umm... Protego Totalum. I'm decent enough with a personal Protego spell, but casting it on an area larger than myself is still tricky. Really, if you could walk me through most of those spells you used on the camp site..." Harry was decent enough at duelling; he could make split decisions to protect himself and a few other people, but protecting things long term and keeping them hidden... well, Hermione had proven much better at that than he ever had been.
Hermione's brow furrowed, and she looked kind of sheepish. "Well, ah...that Protego Totalum isn't...exactly in any of the texts," she said, looking down, "so I doubt it'll be on the exam, but I can teach it to you anyway...if you'd like. Salvo is in a kind of obscure book too--I found it when I was studying up over the summer, and Tonks gave me a few pointers as well. She never asked what they were for but, why not ask an Auror for stealth spells, right?" Her face was slowly pinking up. She couldn't believe that Harry wanted to learn the spells that she had cobbled together or were so old that they weren't in the standard books any more. Everyone mostly fell back on the disillusion spells or other spells in the 7th year book. "Did you want to finish lunch?" she asked...and her stomach grumbled loudly. She hadn't been eating much these days.
"Not until you do," Harry replied, raising an eyebrow at her grumbling stomach. He didn't know why Hermione wanted to insist she'd be fine when she obviously wouldn't. Something was bothering her... but if he pushed... it would just bother her worse. It wasn't a surprise to him that all of those spells weren't standard, but that didn't matter. He wanted to know them. He'd been studying Defence texts for weeks, but he wasn't sure he'd do well until he practised more than he was. Why not practice things that would stretch him to his limits?
She took note of his raised eyebrow, and dutifully picked up another sandwich and began to eat it. He was about a second away from actually saying she should eat; she should eat and then they wouldn't have to have any awkward conversations. He really had picked a lunch that she enjoyed, not too heavy, not like Ron and his insistence for full, large meals at every sitting. She smiled between bites, feeling a bit more relaxed. "Well...how are you going to decorate this place?" she asked. "You'll need lots of comfortable chairs...and nice new post of Winifred...what is she? Is she asleep?" Hermione was babbling away, but it was a much more comfortable sort of babbling than before.
Harry smirked. "HE is off visiting Lupin, with a package of chocolates from Honeyduke's. No doubt being spoiled by him this very instant... or poisoned by Snape, one or the other," he said with a slight frown. "I sent him right after the full and told Remus he could use him for a few days if he wanted. I haven't gotten him back, so he's probably enjoying himself and getting fat. It's only been three days... but... I was thinking... about trying to go by and check on Remus. He doesn't say as much, but I think his transformations have gotten worse."
Harry thought it was best to avoid the conversations about decorating. Truth was, he'd be happy with as little as possible, though he did want it to be nice if he had someone over.
Hermione clicked her teeth. "I keep forgetting it's a HE," she said. "Winifred is more a girl's name--well, it is to me, I have no idea." She noticed a bit of hesitation on his part. Something that no-one else might have picked up on, but she could sense it. "Maybe--that would be nice," she said. She'd not spoken with Professor--she couldn't break herself of calling him 'Professor'--Lupin often at all since the end of the war. There was the getting her parents sorted, then al the awards and such and then the news coming out about him and Professor Snape. It had been difficult for her to speak to him. It had been difficult for her to speak to may people though.
"Harry," she said gently. "You need at least some chairs to sit, and a table to eat at and a bed to sleep in. Just..something comfortable. We'll work on that some other time." She'd actlly finished her sandwich, and another large spoonful of the pasta salad.
"Winifred is a girl's name," Harry replied after a moment. "But Winfred - one 'i' is definitely a boy's name. I looked it up when I was trying to name him." He wasn't about to admit he'd looked up Hedwig, too, only to find it meant contention and war. He was tired of war. Winfred meant friend of peace, and that was certainly what he could use now. "Any way... you're right... I need chairs of some type. I guess."
Hermione smiled as she pushed her plate away. "Will he bite me if I call him 'Winnie'?" She couldn't bear to call Harry's new owl 'Fred'. She could barely look at him as is, though he did look different from Hedwig. "Yes...you need chairs. Though, this is charming---a few chairs would be nice." IT was nice, to sit with Harry and talk about..nothing at all. It calmed and relaxed her. She hoped it calmed and relaxed him.
Harry smiled a bit. "Honestly, I don't think you can get him to bite. He hasn't bitten me once. He's... calmer..." There was a long pause as he finished up the rest of his pasta salad and then set his fork down. "I suppose you'll have to go with me to choose the chairs... I can get away with painting the walls plan white, right? I don't have to do anything fancy?" He was teasing, though. He'd already started to pick colours... though he wasn't sure if he were brave enough to go through with it.
"What...not shocking pink and yellow?" Hermione shook her head. "Of course I will, you know you don't even have to ask. What colours were you thinking of, because we'll have to make sure whatever we pick matches the walls well." She noted that the few times that Winfred had brought her messages, he was far less temperamental than Hedwig had been. "He's--got a very gentle hoot," she added, thinking about it some more.
"Erm... shades of white?" Harry ventured. "Ecru... off-white... ivory. I'm... not very adventurous colour-wise. Maybe pastel yellow or blue... I... I picked a shade of green for the dining room." He smiled at Hermione, now that they were both relaxing. "He is gentle, though I'm sure he'd tear you a knew one if you upset him enough."
Hermione was thinking bout Harry's colour choices. "I like the ivory," she said after a while. "You can match a lot with that...and green? Like..a sagey green? I hope that not not like...ink bottle green, like..Rita Skeeter's quill." She made a face. "I don't even know why I thought about Rita. Probably because I keep getting requests for interviews and such nonsense like that. Or requests to ask YOU to grant interviews." She shook her head.
"Oh, I don't doubt he would," She said. Her feet were crossing and uncrossing as she relaxed. "What if we picked a day next week to go shopping?" She looked at Harry. "What if...we could go to Harrods, you know?" she said suddenly. "Or some other Muggle store...that way, no one would pester you or hound you and we could pick things out in peace. It wouldn't be any trouble to get some money changed over at Gringrotts."
"No... like sage green," Harry confirmed. He left the stuff about Rita completely alone. There was no reason to address it. They both knew he would NEVER give Rita an interview.
"We could go shopping next week, and we're certainly going shopping in Muggle stores. I don't like going anywhere else now." He took a long drink of water. "If it weren't for the fact I love magic... I might consider moving back to the Muggle world completely."
Hermione nodded. She understood how Harry felt completely. Her visits back home, ever with the tension with her mother, were comforting. She felt normal again, not so much a spectacle. "I know," she said. "It seems so strange...I used to count the days down until I could come back to the wizarding world, and now--I look for the littlest excuse to leave it behind for a little while. Ron...thinks I'm mad for it."
It was the first time she'd mentioned Ron. She wished she could have sounded a little more enthusiastic about it. As a matter of fact, they'd had an awful row because of Hermione's visits to her family, but muggle means, normally. "Next week sounds perfect," she said. "We could always rent a lorry for the day, and that way we wouldn't have to worry about delivery addresses and such." Hermione looked for any excuse to drive that she could.
"Mmm... YOU can rent a lorry," Harry replied, with a smirk. "I don't have a license, remember?" It was funny to think, the saviour of the wizarding world, the boy wonder, the hero for all half-bloods, had no drivers license. His aunt and uncle certainly hadn't let him drive. "We'd have to Disillusion it as we drove into Godric's Hollow. With the house being hidden to Muggles it would look rather strange if a lorry drove up and we started unloading furniture."
"Well, I was thinking we'd just drive it to my London flat, then we'd apparate it all here," she said, "Mind you...I've only driven a lorry once, so it'll be sort of frightening, " she admitted. She could handle a car just fine, but she was nervous with larger vehicles. "Harry....we should get you your drivers licence!" she exclaimed, sitting up. "I mean, come on....we can find some deserted roads near Godric's Hollow for you to practise...." Somehow, she thought it would be fun...and Harry wouldn't mock her about driving like Ron did.
"Oh, we can do that, too," Harry replied. He flushed and shrugged. "I... I dunno, 'Mione. I mean, we could I guess. I mean... I have my apparition license, and there's always port keys and floo, and... I can walk. I... I just don't see the need. I can even ride the tube!" To be honest, Harry was sort of nervous about driving. He'd grown up for the first 11 years of his life thinking his parents had died in a rather horrific car accident (not that he'd ever told anyone that), and he'd developed a bit of a phobia about driving. He didn't even really like to ride in cars, but he tried to ignore it.
Hermione looked puzzled. "It was...only an idea, Harry,' she mumbled, looking down and turning red. Once again, she'd obviously done something wrong, and she didn't even know what. "You know...something new. Never mind it. I'm sorry. I suppose well just have to go look at furniture and see what it is you like the best."
"I... uh... don't like cars," Harry admitted after a bit. "I mean, I'm all right with them, really... it's just uh... oh... never mind," he grumbled. It really WAS stupid, now that he knew the truth. His parents hadn't died in any stupid car crash. They were killed by Voldemort, and he'd faced the man and killed HIM. There was nothing to be afraid of. Maybe.
Hermione blinked. How did she know Harry all these years, and never pick up on that? "I--never knew that," she said. "I'm sorry. If I had known I'd...I should have, shouldn't I? We just go through, assuming we know everything about each other...because of everything we've been through together. Like...I fell out of a tree when I was six. That's why I hate flying. I'm terrified of falling." Hermione shrugged. It sounded childish to say that now, but...maybe it would make him feel better? She didn't know.
Harry shrugged. "Well, uh... Petunia and Vernon told me my parents died in a car crash," he said after a long moment. "Dudley used to hold me down and tell me about how I was going to be a horrible driver like my father and I was going to kill myself because I was a stupid nobody." He shrugged a bit. "I never really let them know it bothered me. I didn't want to give them the satisfaction. I tried to imagine that it made me stronger than them, you know... surviving such a thing. But since that isn't really what happened, I don't know why I let it bother me..."
"Because they said it was how your parents died," Hermione said. "And...you're going to be affected by something like that, whether it was true or not. That was cruel of them to say and do to you. All of them." Hermione had never liked the Durselys. She'd never met them , and after hearing about it from Snape's journal...she liked Petunia Dursely even less, to allow her husband and son to torment Harry so much. She reached over and rested her hand on Harry's. "I won't bring it up again," she said, squeezing his hand gently. "I promise. We'll think of another way to get everything here to the house."
He shrugged. "Oh no, we can rent a lorry, and I'll ride. I'm just not eager to go out for driving lessons. Yet. If you can convince me you'll keep me from hitting a tree or something equally as stupid, then I'll think about it," he said with a bit of a smile. He... didn't want to upset Hermione, and really, he'd trusted her with his life before. What harm could there be in riding in a lorry with her?
"What if....we go out in the middle of a great grassy field with no trees about the first time?" she said. "I'll make you a deal: if I can convince you to try and drive a car...I'll let you convince me that the broom won't break underneath me, and you teach me how to fly. Deal?" It felt good to smile with Harry. It seemed that Harry was one of the few people who could make her smile right now.
"What are you doing...early next week?" she asked. "Or, did you want to want to paint first before shopping? I can help paint. I'm brilliant with paining."
"Deal," Harry said, still grinning. Of course, it would be different on a broom. Hermione would have to sit behind him, and she'd have to wrap her arms around him and... he blushed slightly, imagining how it might feel. "We should... paint first," he concluded, managing not to stutter. "I mean, how does it make sense to bring furniture in and then attempt to paint around it... unless... we used charms to protect it... still, it would be silly."
"This is true," she said, not picking up on Harry's blushing. "How about...we go get the paint first...get the place painted and then we worry about furniture. I think there are charms we can use to protect the floors and things." She felt much better than she had a little while ago. She hoped Harry felt the same. "Did you still want to study?" she asked. "I brought some of my old DADA notes, but they really aren't going to help with some of the spells you want to learn," she said. She hoped she could be a good teacher for these. She knew she didn't always teach others as well as she could teach herself.
"That would be brill," he said still grinning. You know, this was why he really liked being with Hermione. No matter what they talked about she could make him feel good... even after everything they'd been through. It was nice. It made him feel normal.
Hermione couldn't help but smile when he did. Harry smiling was one of those things that just made everything in the world RIGHT. "Come on, we'll clean this lot up later." She stood up, brushing crumbs off her, and then held her hand out to Harry to help him to his feet.
Harry took her hand, trying not to think about how good it felt and how warm and how soft and how everything seemed so much clearer when they touched, like it had the first time they'd visited Godric's Hollow at Christmas. He couldn't have imagined doing that with anyone but Hermione and...
"Yeah, all right," he said softly, and he followed her into the living room where they sat down in the floor in front of the fireplace with a magically produced fire (courtesy Hermione's bluebell flames) to study Defence. It might have been romantic... if she weren't his best mate's girl...